FBI's Pittsburgh Division Introduces Robert Jones As Special Agent In Charge

The Washington, PA native has over 20 years of FBI experience

PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - The FBI's Pittsburgh Division has assigned Robert Jones as their new Special Agent in Charge.

A former Marine, Jones is a native of Washington County, but has spent over 20 years in the FBI taking assignments at FBI headquarters, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cleveland, New York, and Indianapolis. At a press conference Thursday, Jones highlighted his main concerns for his division, which covers Southwestern Pennsylvania and all of West Virginia.

He mentioned the opioid crisis and cyber security as two of his top priorities. He said voters should feel confident in the security of local elections as midterms approach.

"We have a robust cyber capability across the board when it comes to everything we look in the cyber arena. If there's a threat out there, we're probably going to know about it in advance and make sure that the information gets out to the people that need it."

While the entire country continues to fight the opioid crisis, Jones believes it is especially bad in his division, with West Virginia being one of the hubs of the issue. He said he is pushing for more resources to fight the opioids.

"I'm dedicating additional resources to opioids. I just got a bump in my funded staffing level with my understanding that those bodies will all go to fight opioids, and I'll probably put them in West Virginia."

He added that in an increased effort to attack the opioid crisis, there has been a spike in cocaine and methamphetamine use in the area.

In the midst of a tumultuous relationship between the FBI and the Trump administration, Jones admitted that morale within the organization has been low. He says it's the work they do at the local level that keeps the job rewarding.

"Ninety-nine point nine percent of our cases have nothing to do with Clinton emails or Russia investigations or meddling in elections. I've got agents on the streets everyday rescuing kidnap victims, arresting drug dealers."